Blazing Revolution
by TheSib
Summary: Sequel to I Will Not Bow. Ren is back in the real world, along with everyone else. Well, all except for Asuna and 300 other players. But when Asuna is spotted in a new game, Alfheim Online, Ren, Kirito, and everyone must go back to the VRMMO world to bring her back. Stories after ALO arc come after chapter 9. I don't own Sword Art Online. All rights go to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright everyone. It's finally time. The sequel to I Will Not Bow is finally here! (massive cheering in background). Unfortunately, chapter updates will be once a month or so now. Its college time again, so I'll be busy with school stuff. I'll try to update whenever I can.**

After two whole years of being trapped in the death game known as Sword Art Online, we had finally been set free. We had returned to the real world. We had survived.

A few days after we all escaped, we were allowed to contact friends we had within the game. Luckily for me, all of Wyvern Inferno was in the same hospital as me. Once I was able to walk again, the first person I went to see was Alice. She lit up when she saw me. I went to see the rest of the guild later that day.

A couple weeks or so after that, a party was made at the hospital lobby for us SAO survivors. Helios, Mai, Dagger, Alice, and I got together there and talked. Eventually we saw Kirito. He wasn't looking all that cheerful, and I couldn't blame him. After all, Asuna was still trapped in her coma along with another 300 SAO survivors.

At the party, we all exchanged contact information. We spent another few days recovering until we were finally able to go home. My little sister Clair was ecstatic. While she was interested in hearing about my adventures in SAO, she was also worried about me reliving the bad experiences in SAO. I made the compromise to tell her the stories I wanted to tell when she wanted me to. I didn't have much else to do lately.

Two months have gone by since SAO ended. Alice and I were having a date at a park. My little sister came along too since my parents needed me to watch her while they were at work. Clair was running around the park while Alice and I sat on a bench.

"You're sister's pretty energetic." Alice laughed.

"Yeah. She's always been like that." I agreed.

"She's lucky to have a caring brother like you." Alice added kissing me on the cheek.

"Well I'm lucky to have a great girlfriend like you." I smiled, kissing her on the lips. Our lips stayed locked for a bit until a noise broke us up.

"Ahem!"

We turned our heads to see Clair right in front of us with a devilish grin on her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on me Dan?" Clair asked.

"Yes, and that's what I've been doing." I responded.

"No you haven't. You've been kissing Alice for a full 30 seconds. You have no idea what I've been doing that entire..."

"You were over at the swings a minute ago." I interrupted. "You then took the path through those trees so that you could try to sneak up on us and catch us by surprise." I said, tracing her path back by pointing.

Clair stood there speechless with her mouth wide open. "No fair. How'd you do that?" she complained.

"I was the top tactician in SAO. Being observant comes naturally." I said with a smirk.

Clair sighed and took a seat next to us. She turned her head to us and asked a question. "Come to think of it, how did you and Alice meet anyway?"

"He saved me and my sister Mai during the early days of SAO. We formed a guild together afterwards. We didn't become a couple till much later." Alice explained.

"Wow! You're like some awesome hero, big brother!" Clair exclaimed.

Alice and I talked with Clair about some of the many adventures we had in SAO. On the way home, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out to check what was up.

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"It's a message from Agil." I said. "He wants us to come to his cafe tomorrow at noon."

"I wonder what's up." Alice said.

"Guess we'll find out tomorrow." I said.

The next day, Alice and I headed over to Agil's bar, the Dicey Cafe. It wasn't much, but the food was pretty good. I'd been here a couple of times to talk with friends from SAO.

When we entered, we found Mai, Riku, and Kirito already there. The only ones not here yet were Dagger and Helios. The two of them showed up 20 minutes later.

"You're late." Alice complained.

"Sorry. I was helping Dagger escape from an angry mob of people she ripped off." Helios explained.

"Again!? That's like the third time this week." I sighed.

"What can I say? I love money." Dagger smiled.

"Now that everyone's here, can we get down to business." Agil interrupted. We all sat down as Agil brought out a picture.

"I already explained everything to Kirito. I'm sure you all recognize this person." Agil said. The picture was blurry but the person in it could only be one person. It was Asuna!

"Asuna!? Where is this?" Mai gasped.

"That picture was taken in a game known as Alfheim Online. It was in an area called the World Tree."

We all sat there speechless. Asuna was in another game? That made no sense. How did she end up there?

"I'm going in to rescue her." Kirito said, standing up. He walked over towards the door.

"Wait!" I said. He turned around. "What's wrong Ren?" Kirito asked.

"Do you honestly think we're going to just let you have all the fun?" I said with a grin. "We're coming too."

Kirito looked at us, shocked. "You don't have to do that guys. I'll be ok on my own."

"Asuna's our friend too. You're not a beta tester this time. We're coming with you."

Kirito stood there for a few moments before cracking a smile. "Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. You're the best."

We sat down together and formulated a plan. ALO had nine races to choose from. Our best bet was to split up into groups and make our way to the World Tree individually to avoid attracting too much attention. We each picked our races. Kirito and Dagger chose the Spriggan race. Alice and I picked Imps. Helios went with Salamander. Mai decided to be a Sylph. Agil and Riku stayed behind to gather info on the game.

Luckily for me, my parents were going on a vacation for the week. Since it was still the middle of the school year, I volunteered to watch Clair. Now all I had to do was try to explain things to her and try not to worry her.

"Hey Clair, you got a minute?" I asked after she finished up her homework. She came over and I gave her a quick explanation of the situation. She shed a few tears, but I was able to keep her from worrying too much or calling our parents.

I had already bought the game and Agil said it was compatible with Nerve Gear. Kirito had already gone in. He told us that his SAO stats were converted over, but his items were corrupted. On the bright side, he was able to revive Yui. We were all ecstatic to hear that.

At 7 pm I put the Nerve Gear on, closed my eyes, and said the words I thought would never come out of my mouth again.

"Link Start!"

**A/N: Well that's chapter 1 everybody. I hope you all enjoyed it. Look forward to the rest of the story. I decided to just have everyone call each other by their SAO name (except for Ren's real name when talking to Clair) to keep away any confusion.**

**P.S: For those of you that haven't read it yet, look up The Adventures of Dagger for some hilarious adventures of everyone's favorite merchant from I Will Not Bow. Multiple stories will be posted (mostly one-shots), and any comments or suggestions you guys have for the story will be greatly appreciated. The same goes for Blazing Revolution.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this everyone. The connection on my laptop has been on the sucky side here. On the bright side, I should be able to change my posting schedule from once a month to once every 2 weeks. Enjoy the chapter everybody. And remember, reviews, comments, and suggestions are always welcome.**

I entered the game and found myself in a small room. An electronic female voice spoke up.

"Welcome to Alfheim Online. Please enter your name and the race you choose to be."

We all decided to go with our old SAO names to make it easier for us to locate each other. I entered the name Ren and selected Imp. The voice wished me luck and my vision went white. When I could see again, I was in the sky, falling. Looking down, I could see several interconnecting caves. Two large, dark violet, bat wings extended from my back. The electronic female voice returned.

"This is the controlled flight tutorial. Please follow these instructions to learn how to fly with your controller."

I did several tasks midair. After about five minutes I finished the tutorial and was teleported once again. I found myself inside the caves. The entire place was illuminated up by blue-green lights. The buildings and shops were made entirely out of stone and were connected to the cave walls. Thousands of players walked around the cave city. One player I recognized right away. It would be hard to miss that long flowing black hair.

"Hey! Alice!" I called out, waving. Alice turned her head and smiled as she waved back.

"This place is so cool!" Alice exclaimed.

"I know! The design is so different from an SAO city." I agreed.

The two of us walked around and explored the city. We checked our menus as well. Just like Kirito said, our items were corrupted. It hurt to ditch them, but we couldn't risk alerting the error detection program. Luckily we still had the same amount of money we had in SAO. The two of us went to several shops and bought new equipment.

I now had a long black coat, and a violet shirt under it. My pants were black as well. I got a one-handed long sword with a black handle and dark violet blade. Alice was dressed in a violet dress with a red trim. She had a scythe with a violet handle and a red and white blade.

"You look pretty cool in that outfit Ren." Alice said.

"Thanks. Same to you." I replied.

The two of us continued to walk around the gigantic city. We eventually saw a large crowd formed in one area. When we got closer, we saw that the were all surrounding a female player. Shouts could be heard all over the crowd.

"Suiko! I love you!"

"Marry me, Suiko!"

You're my idol, Suiko!"

Alice and I stood there puzzled. "Excuse me, what's going on? Who is she?" Alice asked one of the players in the crowd.

"That's Suiko." the love struck player responded. "She's the most beautiful and most popular girl in the Imp race."

"She can't be that great." Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Who said that?!" a voice spoke up. The crowd made a path and the girl named Suiko was now clearly visible. She seemed to be in her late teens. Her hair was red and in a ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a dark red dress with a black miniskirt at the end and long black boots. At her side was a katana. She made her way towards us.

"You think an ugly loser like you is better than me?" Suiko laughed.

"What did you say to me!?" Alice glared.

Suiko turned her gaze towards me. "It's such a shame. Such a handsome guy like you shouldn't be with trash like her." she smiled seductively. "Why don't you ditch this loser and have some fun with me."

"Sorry. I'm taken." I replied.

"Maybe you don't realize who I am. Guys kill to have a date with me. Compared to me, that girl you're with is garbage." Suiko added. "Now come on and..." Suiko's words were interrupted by Alice's large scythe swung right in front of her.

"HE SAID HE'S TAKEN! NOW BACK OFF BITCH!" Alice yelled.

"Who do you think you are?!" Suiko glared. "Why don't you show me what you've got with a duel?"

"Bring it! It'll be my pleasure to stomp you into the dirt!" Alice replied.

"Hold it." I interrupted. "I'll fight her."

"Heh makes no difference to me." Suiko smirked. "But if I win, you ditch that loser and go out with me."

"Fine. But when I win, you back off and leave us alone." I said.

"Deal. But I think you mean IF you win."

"No. I meant when." I smirked.

The two of us stood about 10 meters from each other. The crowd formed a circle around us. They cheered like a fan club.

"Go Suiko!"

"You can beat this loser!"

Alice stood right behind me. She didn't need to cheer me. When our eyes locked we grinned at each other cause we both knew how this was going to end. The timer slowly went down.

5...4...3...2...1...START!

And with that, Suiko charged right at me with her katana. She was definitely a speed type player. Her speed was pretty high... for an ALO player I assumed. Most amateurs probably couldn't keep up with that speed. The fact that I wasn't one of those amateurs was proven when I blocked her katana without even flinching. When she saw her attack had failed, Suiko leaped back to put some distance between us.

"So was that a warm up, or is that really the best you've got?" I smirked. Suiko's eyes lit up with rage as she charged at me even faster this time. It was still far too slow. I knocked her weapon up into the air, and attacked with a barrage of slashes. My final hit sent he flying back. Her hp hit yellow and the duel was decided.

"No way! That's impossible! How could you keep up with my speed?!" Suiko gasped.

"You act like that was fast." I said. "But this..." I continued as I closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye with my blade inches from her. "This is speed." The entire crowd gasped in shock. Alice and I walked away from the crowd.

"You'll regret this! No one rejects me and gets away with it!" Suiko yelled.

"I think he just did." Alice responded teasingly. We walked out of the cave. The vast blue sky seemed to stretch for miles.

"Come to think of it, didn't Kirito say something about voluntary flight?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. He said the trick was to imagine we had bones and muscles stretching out from our backs." I replied.

The two of us tried to move our wings on our own. After about ten minutes, we finally got the hang of it.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Alice exclaimed.

"Yeah! We can get anywhere easily with this!" I agreed. We used the map on the menu to find the best path to take to the World Tree. The two of us spread our wings and took off into the sky.

**A/N: Time for the journey through Alfheim to begin! Look forward to the next chapters everyone.**

**On another note, for those of you who have been watching SAO 2, I hope you all love it as much as I have. As someone who has read all the light novels so far, I already know what's going to happen, but I still love how well they're doing with the anime. A fan of mine suggested I use Sinnon in the next chapter of Adventures of Dagger, and I loved the idea of doing something with her. I will be starting work on that story ASAP. Don't worry though. Blazing Revolution will still be posted on a regular routine (once every two weeks).**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I'll try to get the next one up in about a week. I hope you all enjoy it. As always reviews, comments, and suggestions are always welcome.**

Alice and I flew across the vast sky. Mobs of flying monsters appeared every few minutes or so. Our first midair fight felt a little weird but we adjusted quickly. We had been flying for nearly 10 minutes in total. Suddenly our wings seemed to lose their glow a little. We began losing altitude as well.

"Ren, what's going on?" Alice wondered.

"I don't know." I replied. At that moment, out wings vanished completely.

_Crap!_

Alice and I began plummeting down towards the trees beneath us. Alice screamed as we fell. I maneuvered myself near her and grabbed her. I warped myself around her as we hit the trees.

"Hang on Alice!" I yelled.

We hit the trees. and eventually the ground, pretty hard. I was able to cushion most of the fall for Alice. My body however was screaming in pain.

"Ren! Ren, are you ok?!" Alice asked worried as she kneeled over me.

"Yeah. I'll live." I replied weakly. Looking up, I saw that I had lost about half my hp.

"You idiot! How many times have I told you to stop being so reckless?!" Alice scolded me, hitting my arm.

"Ow! That hurt!" I said.

"See, your not ok! You lost a lot of hp in that fall!" Alice took out a bottle with a red liquid in it. It was a health potion. "Drink this." she said, passing me the bottle.

"Thanks." I said gulping down the potion. Most of the hp I had lost was recovered.

"What happened anyway? Why did our wings suddenly vanish?" Alice wondered.

"No clue." I replied. Suddenly a window appeared in front of me.

Flight time expired. Recovery time for wings: 30 minutes.

"So we can only fly continuously for a limited time. Afterwards we have to rest our wings." I figured.

"A little warning ahead of time would have been nice." Alice complained.

We decided to spend our recovery time looking through our menus. For the most part, they seemed similar to the ones in SAO. One difference was the addition of a spells tab. I opened it and found two spells there. One was a night vision spell. The other was a basic healing spell. I tapped the healing spell and several words appeared. I couldn't understand any of them.

"Su... Feila... Heil... Astelu... what language is this?" Alice asked.

"Here, let me try." I said. I closed my menu, raised my hand, and recited the words to the healing spell. My hand became veiled in a light green light. Alice's body became veiled in the same light. Her hp became completely restored.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Alice exclaimed.

We spent the rest of the time practicing magic. We had gotten the hang of it by the time our wings were restored.

"Ok let's take off." I said. We spread our wings and were about to take off when we heard a large splash in the distance.

"What was that?" Alice wondered. The two of us flew over towards the noise. We found ourselves over a large lake. Looking down, we saw a female player crawling out of the water.

"Looks like we're not the only ones bad at landing." Alice said. We flew down towards the player. She wore a green dress with a yellow miniskirt at the end and long white boots. At her side was a rapier with a white flower shaped handle and a yellow blade.

"Are you ok?" Alice asked the girl.

"Yeah I'm... Wait. Is that you Alice?" the girl asked.

"That voice. Oh my god is that you Mai?!" Alice exclaimed. The two sisters were excited to see each other again.

Mai told us her story of how she got here. When she logged in, she heard people talking about a player that matched Kirito's description. Mai quickly flew in the direction they mentioned him going. As she was flying, her wings suddenly vanished and she plummeted into the lake.

Alice and I told Mai about our journey here. Once Mai's wings were recovered, we all took off towards the World Tree together.

_Meanwhile..._

Multiple players stood in the forest by the lakeside. The majority of them were Salamanders. Three of the players in the group stood out among the rest. The first was a Salamander with a large battle axe. The second was a girl Spriggan with a long dagger at her waist. They both turned towards the final player in the shadows: their boss. She hid in the darkness well, almost as if she was one with it.

"When do we get to strike?" the axe-wielding Salamander asked.

"Soon. Very soon." the mystery female player said.

"Just remember our deal. We kill these guys and you pay us the rest of the money." the Spriggan warned.

"You'll get the rest of your money in due time. Just make sure you leave the Imp girl for me. I want to make her taste the edge of my blade as her friends die in front of her." the shadowy female spoke.

"Don't worry. These guys are toast." the Salamander grinned.

They watched as the three players took off into the sky, unaware of the others watching them. The group now left the cover of the trees.

"Now. Follow them."

**A/N: Oh boy. Shit is gonna go down. Look forward to the upcoming chapters everyone.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello again everybody. It's time for another chapter of Blazing Revolution. Please enjoy and remember, comments, reviews, and suggestions are always welcome.**

The three of us had been flying for a few minutes since we left the lake. Mai was still struggling a little with voluntary flight, but Alice was able to help her for the most part.

"I wish we had this in SAO." Mai said. "Getting to dungeons would have been a breeze if we could have flown there."

"Yeah. Flying is so much fun too." Alice added.

They had a point. Flying was pretty cool. But I was tuning them out. My attention was focused on a strange noise. It sounded like the rustling of leaves.

_Where is it coming from? We're in the middle of the air. The only thing around us is... oh crap!_

I immediately looked down. Several red dots slowly came into view from the trees. They were planning to ambush us!

"We've got company guys!" I yelled. "They're right below us!" Alice and Mai looked down and gasped. There had to be about 20 players there.

Seeing there cover was blown, our new enemies came out of hiding. They started chanting spells. Then the fireballs started flying.

"Look out!" I warned. The three of us maneuvered around in the air, barely dodging the balls of fire aimed at us. As the barrage of spells started to slow down, we were faced with a new problem. Three players started charging at us. One was a female Spriggan going towards Mai. The second had a cloak on, but the player's wings showed they were an Imp, and he or she was heading towards Alice. The last was a large male Salamander charging right at me.

"Split up guys!" I ordered. The three of us dived into the trees followed by our pursuers. We soon lost sight of each other. I silently wished Mai and Alice good luck and turned to face my opponent. The Salamander had ashy red hair. His equipment consisted of a full set of red armor with a yellow trim and a large battle axe.

"Looks like I'm fighting you." the Salamander grinned.

"No shit Sherlock." I replied.

"Keep digging Watson." the Salamander countered.

"What's your deal anyway? Why are you attacking us?" I asked.

"Well a few reasons. One, to make some quick cash. Two, there's nothing more satisfying than the look I see before I kill someone. And three, kicking ass is one of the best ways to preserve the temple that is my body."

_Ok... so I'm dealing with a psychopath. Why does that arrogant personality seem familiar though?_

I didn't have much time for myself to think as the Salamander charged straight at me. "I'm a gonna kill you now bitch!" he smirked.

I dodged the attack by jumping over him, using my wings to get a little higher than an average jump. I landed right behind him and drew my sword. I kicked the ground and charged at him with a diagonal slash. He was able to turn around and block my sword with his axe before I could hit him though. The two of us jumped back to put some distance between us.

"Bitch please. I'm a master." the Salamander grinned. He prepared to charge again.

_Ok that settles it. There's only one guy who could be this annoying, arrogant, and psychotic._

"Is that you Helios?" I sighed as he prepared to attack. In surprise, he tripped over and fell down.

"How do you know my name... oh god, is that you Ren?!" Helios gasped. I helped Helios to his feet and we started talking.

"So I'm guessing that Spriggan was Dagger?" I asked. Helios nodded in confirmation.

"So why were you two acting as mercenaries?" I asked.

"I thought it might make it quicker to get ahead with a group. Dagger wanted to make a quick buck." Helios answered.

"So whose the Imp?"

"The Imp is the one that hired us. She said she'd give us some good cash if we helped her take out you guys. I had no idea who you really were at the time though."

"In any case we need to get to Mai and Dagger. They should be fighting each other somewhere in the woods here." I said.

"Oh don't worry about us." a voice suddenly appeared. We looked up to see Mai and Dagger sitting on a branch in the trees above us.

"How did you know who each of you were?" Helios asked.

"When Dagger attacked me, she kept screaming about money. I put two and two together." Mai answered.

"So all that's left is Alice's opponent. Let's get going." I said. The four of us jumped through the trees in search of our teammate.

**Alice POV:**

The player chasing after me was definitely quick. I was forced to slow down to avoid ramming into the trees. The two of us landed near a clearing.

"Who the heck are you? What do you want with us?" I asked the cloaked figure. The player grabbed her cloak and tossed it away, revealing her identity. I noticed her instantly. It was Suiko!

"Suiko?! What are you doing here?!" I gasped.

"I'm here to get my revenge on you!" Suiko glared. "I'm going to show that boyfriend of yours just how weak you are!"

"You know I'm glad you did this." I grinned. "Now I get to beat you into the dirt personally."

Suiko glared at me. She pulled out her katana and rushed at me. Before she could even swing her blade, I used my speed to get right in front of her. I kept my body low and kicked her in the face. She was sent flying straight up. I then used my wings to quickly get above her and kick her into the side of a tree. Before Suiko's falling body could reach the ground, I once again kicked her. This time I kicked her right into the ground. I then leaped back and watched Suiko slowly get to her feet.

"Would you stop with the kicking!" Suiko yelled.

"Fine by me." I smirked. I pulled out my scythe and charged at Suiko. She got into a defensive stance with her katana, but I was still able to knock her weapon into the air. I then attacked her with a barrage of slashes. My final hit sent her flying into another tree. I swung my scythe into the tree before she could fall over. I looked her right in the eye.

"Stay. Away. From. Ren. He's. Mine." I glared.

"You trashy bitch." Suiko snarled.

There are two things you should never do. The first is insult me. The second is try to steal Ren from me. Suiko had done both. Her mistake in judgment was shown as I removed my scythe, hooked her in the face, and sent her flying back a few hundred feet. Suiko's body burst into flames leaving a single violet flame standing there.

**Ren POV:**

We followed the loud sounds of banging in the distance. I knew that was where Alice was. I burst through the trees into the clearing.

"Alice, are you... what the hell happened here?!" I gasped. The entire clearing had been trashed. The only ones there were Alice and a remain light. Alice explained that Suiko was behind the attack. The rest of the Salamanders turned tail and ran after their boss died.

"Darn. I really wanted the rest of that cash." Dagger complained.

"Well at least we're all back together now. We should be able to reach the World Tree in no time!" Mai cheered.

We all nodded as we spread our wings and took off into the sky once again.

**A/N: Note to self: Never piss off Alice. I hope you all liked this chapter. I will try to keep up a once per week update.**

**On a side note: for all of you who haven't, I suggest reading the SAO light novels. I have just finished volume 14 and it has been AMAZING so far. If you have any questions on where to start from in comparison to the anime, feel free to PM me. I will be more than happy to direct you to the correct volume. Try and read them if you haven't yet.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello again everybody. It's that time of week again! Please enjoy. As always, comments, reviews and suggestions are always welcome.**

The Ruger Corridor was a full set of interconnecting caves. It was one giant maze. More importantly, it was our only way to get to the World Tree. The five of us walked through the dark caves.

"Its pitch black in here! How are we supposed to see?" Mai complained.

"Simple. Watch this." I said. I raised my hand and recited a spell. Within seconds, the room became brighter.

"Cool night vision magic!" Mai exclaimed.

"What would you guys do without me?" I smirked.

We continued walking through the caves for a couple of hours. We eventually reached a large intersection in the corridor. Several holes opened around us.

"Great. Where do we go now?" Helios sighed. We stood there considering which path to take. Suddenly, a pitch black smokescreen surrounded us. I couldn't see Alice, Helios, or anyone.

"What the hell?!" I gasped. Out of nowhere, players began to surround me. They were all Spriggans. As I wondered what was going on, a scream entered my ears.

"Ren! Help!"

I frantically looked around. The scream came from Alice. The smokescreen and players clouded my vision, but I could still see shadows moving through the black fog. Thank god for Imp's night vision boost. I immediately charged at that direction, only to be blocked by several players.

"Get out of my way!" I yelled. I slashed my blade through them and continued on ahead. I went through the tunnel I saw the Spriggans taking Alice. I lost sight of them, but the tunnel hadn't intersected yet so I knew this was the right path. I stopped for a moment when a message window appeared in front of me.

Where the heck are you?!

- Helios

I was so focused on Alice, I forgot the others. It's not like I had any time to lose back there. I was still barely on their tracks. I messaged back Helios telling him to track me through the menu. After another few minutes, I found an exit of the tunnel. It opened up to a large hollow cave. I was on a ledge above the ground. Down bellow, I saw the group of Spriggans from earlier. There were about 20 in total. Alice was tied up and gagged near a rock.

"So what should we do with this one?" one of the Spriggans asked.

"We haven't had fun with a girl in forever. Let's take her stuff and watch her cry." another one suggested.

"Yeah. With her hands tied up, she can't alert any harassment warnings." a third player spoke up. He walked over and took the cloth out of Alice's mouth. Alice spit in his face, and he slapped her across the face.

"Just shut up and have some fun. Resist, and you'll be beaten to a pulp as well."

"You bastards!" Alice screamed. "When Ren gets here he's going to cut you in half!"

"You mean that Imp that was with you? Is he your boyfriend? That's adorable." laughed one of the players.

"Yeah. What's he gonna do to us? Beat us senseless all on his own?" another one laughed.

"Oh that's just the beginning of what I'm going to do to you assholes." I said, jumping off the ledge and revealing my presence. "But please, don't mind me. Go on. Give me some other ideas." The group of Spriggans turned around in shock. Alice looked up at me with joy on her face.

"How did you find us?!" gasped one of the members.

"You guys really shouldn't escape into a tunnel that doesn't branch off at all. That much should be common sense." I grinned.

"Who cares if he found us?! He's all alone! Kill him!" yelled another member. The group charged at me. As they approached, I pulled out my sword. I charged at them at full speed, slashing through player after player, skidding to a halt as I passed the full group. About 10 of them burned away into remain lights. The others turned around with a look of fear on their faces.

"Who wants to be next?" I smirked.

The Spriggans ran away in terror. As they neared the ledge to escape, a strong force knocked them all back. They fell to the ground. Looking up I saw what knocked them off. Helios, Dagger, and Mai stood on top of the ledge.

"What would you do without me?" Helios grinned.

_We would get a little peace and quiet._

The Spriggans now stood up, realizing that they were cornered. "Please! We give up! Have mercy!" one of them cried. I sped at him and grabbed him by the throat.

"I don't give mercy to perverted assholes." I glared. His friends tried to attack me, but Helios, Dagger, and Mai intercepted their attacks. The four of us quickly finished them off. Their screams of agony were probably heard all over Alfheim. Once they were all beaten, I walked over and cut Alice loose.

"Ren! Thank you so much! I was so scared!" Alice cried into my coat.

"Awwww that's adorable!" laughed Helios, walking up to us.

"Shut up!" Alice glared at him.

"Are you saying you wouldn't comfort me if I felt scared?" Dagger spoke up.

"W-What?! O-Of course I would Dagger!" Helios stuttered. We all cracked up laughing at him.

"Awwww Helios! That is so cute!" teased Alice.

"Shut up!"

We all left the cave together. After about half an hour, we arrived at a midway point of the caves. It was a small miner town. We took a brief rest there. Afterwards we set out and continued on to the World Tree.

After another hour or so, we finally reached the city of Alne, home of the World Tree.

"Finally!" Mai cheered.

The trip here had been long, tedious, and definitely filled with obstacles. But we still managed to make it. Looking at the time, we could see it was 7 pm. We went to an inn, rented a room, and logged out. We planned to meet up at 5:00 tomorrow afternoon.

When I opened my eyes, I took a big yawn. It felt like I had taken a long nap. I heard an odd noise on the side of my bed. I turned my head to see Clair asleep next to me. I guess she was really worried about me. I nudged her a little and she woke up with a jolt, rolling off the bed.

"Dan?! I-I'm sorry! I just..."

"It's ok Clair. Relax." I assured her. "Thanks for watching over me."

"Can we eat now? I'm starving."

"Geez. Straight to the point as always huh sis? Come on. I'll put something together." I said, getting off my bed.

After a quick dinner, I put Clair to bed and hit the hay myself. Sleep didn't come easy though. I was anxious about tomorrow. Would we find Asuna? What challenges will we have to face? I tried not to let it bother me and eventually fell asleep.

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Look forward to next week for a new one.**

**From the Richard Stockton College (Go Ospreys!), I'm TheSib signing off.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Another week, another chapter. I bet you've all been looking forward to an incredible fight in Alfheim at the World Tree. WELL TOO BAD! THAT'S NEXT WEEK'S CHAPTER! For now, please enjoy this week's exciting chapter.**

**Helios: Dude, stop with the overdramatic crap. It makes you look like a loser.**

**Me: Shut up Helios. I made your character and I can take him out in an instant.**

**Helios: Oh please. We all know that without me, this fanfiction would suck.**

**Me: Damn it. He's right.**

**Have fun reading everyone. **

Morning came a lot quicker than I expected. Looking at my alarm clock, I saw it was 8 am. Clair would be getting hungry by now. I got out of bed and got dressed. By the time Clair got down, I had a plate of eggs set up. We sat down and ate together. Since it was Saturday, I didn't have to send Clair off to school. I decided to tell Clair about our adventures in ALO so far. Clair was ecstatic to hear them.

"Wow! You're so cool Dan! How did you get so skilled that quickly?" Clair asked.

"I learned how to fight with a sword in SAO. The skills kinda stick with you." I explained.

"Oh... I see." Clair said. Her expression quickly turned sad.

"Clair? What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so useless." Clair said with tears rolling down her eyes.

I immediately got out of my chair and came next to her. I kneeled down to get her at eye level. "You're not useless Clair. Why would you think that?"

"I haven't been any help in your mission to save Asuna. I couldn't do anything to help you while you were in SAO. So many times I wished I could have gone in to help you in SAO."

I held her head and forced her gaze towards me. "Don't ever say something like that again. Got it?" I said. "I would have never wanted you in SAO. I'd do anything to keep you safe."

"So what? I'm supposed to be just some sideline cheerleader?" Clair cried.

"You did help me in SAO actually." I said.

Clair looked up towards me, a bit surprised. "How did I help you?"

"When I was in SAO, you were my biggest inspiration to clear the game. I was able to keep going, because I knew you were waiting for me." I wiped away the tears on Clair's face. She leaped into my arms and wrapped herself around me.

"Thanks big brother. You're the best." Clair said.

After Clair calmed down a bit, I sat back down and we continued to talk about my SAO adventures. Eventually, the time came for me to go back to the virtual world. I laid down in my bed and put my Nerve Gear on.

"Good luck Dan." Clair said. She stood next to me as I closed my eyes and entered the virtual world once again.

"Link Start!"

**Alice POV:**

I woke up yawning loudly as I stretched my arms. As I walked out of my room, I could see Mai getting up as well. We headed downstairs and had some coffee to wake up. When our parents woke up, we sat down for breakfast.

"So what are you doing today?" Mom asked us.

We weren't going into ALO till five. That gave us a lot of time to kill. Mai thought it would be a good idea for the two of us to go shopping. Mom was happy to see us getting out of the house.

After breakfast, Mai and I left and headed to the mall. The two of us hadn't done much outside of the house since we got back from SAO. It felt nice to do something normal again. When we got to the mall, we headed for our favorite clothing shop. Mai came out of the dressing room wearing a light green shirt and blue jeans.

"Wow Mai! You look great in that!" I exclaimed.

"I know right?! Its perfect!" Mai agreed. "You look amazing too."

I had come out of the dressing room wearing a red tang top and a pair of skinny blue jeans. The two of us bought these and a few other dresses.

"Where should we go next?" Mai wondered.

"How about Victoria's Secret?" I suggested.

"Gonna buy something to seduce Ren?" Mai teased.

"Excuse me for actually getting a boyfriend in SAO." I countered.

"I got a boyfriend when Helios, Riku, and I had that competition! I told you that."

"Helios told me you paid a guy to be your date." I said.

"Damn it. I told him never to tell anyone about that." Mai pouted.

"Don't worry. You'll get a boyfriend some day." I assured her. "I'll go some other time. Let's head home."

The two of us left the mall and headed home. We were walking along the city streets a voice called out to us.

"Alice! Mai! How's it going?" We turned our heads to see a familiar face, although it wasn't one I wanted to ever see again. It was Noboru. He had been in a party with me and Mai in the beginning of SAO, until he ran away and left us to die. If Ren hadn't shown up, we would have died.

"What do you want?" Mai asked.

"I was wondering if either of you two would like to have dinner some time." Noboru said.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" I gasped. "Maybe you forgot about what you did to us?"

"Come on, Alice. Its been forever since then. Can't you forgive me?"

"You're lucky Alice didn't rip your head off that day. Get lost Noboru." Mai said.

"Come on. You could use a boyfriend now that your back in the real world. You need a man in your life." Noboru said. "We've known each other for years. We'd make a great couple."

"For your information I HAVE a boyfriend!" I yelled. "And he's more of a man than you'll ever be! He doesn't run out on his friends and let them be killed just to SAVE HIS OWN ASS!"

"You mean that tactician guy from SAO? I think Ren was his name, right?" Noboru asked. "Why would you want to be with that loser? He's probably just some stupid nerd." It took all of two seconds after that comment came out for Noboru to regret it. I decked him across the face and he fell over on the sidewalk.

"Did you just hit me?" Noboru gasped.

"No that was a different person. His name was No Shit Sherlock." I glared.

"But we're friends. We have been since we were kids." Noboru said.

"Our friendship died back in SAO. You're nothing but trash in my eyes now." I said. Mai and I walked away and left Noboru to get his sorry ass off the ground.

"That guy REALLY pisses me off!" I growled as we walked back home.

"You know with those one-liners you keep saying, I think Helios's asshole personality is starting to rub off on you." Mai joked.

"Oh god, don't even make me think about turning into that guy." I shivered.

When Mai and I arrived back home, we put our bags down. 5:00 was fast approaching so we headed to our rooms, put our Nerve Gear helmets on, and entered the virtual world once again.

"Link Start!"

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter everyone. Look forward to next week for the battle at the World Tree. See you then everybody.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: It's time for another round of Blazing Revolution. I wanted to go a little further with the story than I did with this chapter, but it's been a busy week with exams and everything. I hope you all enjoy this still. As always, reviews, comments, and suggestions are more than welcome.**

I opened my eyes and found myself in the inn we all logged out of last night. After a few minutes, Alice and Mai showed up as well. Helios arrived soon after along with Dagger.

"Looks like everyone's here. Kirito said he was coming early so he should already be in the city. Let's meet him at the World Tree." I suggested. We left the inn and walked towards the gigantic tree. The city was incredibly large and was filled with all kinds of fairy races.

"This is amazing." Alice said in awe. We eventually reached the World Tree in a few minutes. When we arrived at the stairs a voice called out behind us.

"Hey guys. You sure took your time getting here." We all turned our heads to see Kirito behind us. On his shoulder was a small pixie that I guessed was Yui. Next to him was a Sylph with blonde hair and a green dress.

"Who's the girl? Are you cheating on Asuna? Way to go player!" Helios teased. A quick jab to the stomach from Alice shut him up though as he kneeled over in pain. "Ignore him please." Alice apologized.

"No problem. But next time, give me a chance to take a swing at him." the Sylph girl smiled. "My name's Lyfa by the way."

"Helios please say another dick comment to her. Please, for me! I really want to see your ass get kicked by two girls in one day." Mai begged.

"You are so going to be cannon fodder if I ever take over as leader." Helios glared as he slowly got back up.

"As if anyone would follow YOUR orders. We all know Alice is the second in command." Mai laughed.

"It's not like there's anyone else suited for the job." Alice said. "Besides me, we have Mai who is too young, Dagger who would probably sell us to make a quick buck, Helios who is too much of a psycho, and Riku who is... Riku."

"Well fuck you too Alice." Helios replied.

"You sure have some interesting friends Kirito." Lyfa said.

We all introduced ourselves and got reacquainted with Kirito. Apparently, he already tried to clear the World Tree... and promptly got his ass handed to him. We climbed the stairs to the World Tree. At the top, we found a male Sylph in a hooded outfit. Lyfa told us he was her friend Recon.

"So what's our plan?" Alice asked.

"I've got a great idea!" Helios exclaimed. "I call it Operation: Piss and Vinegar. Ren, Kirito, Dagger, and me will charge in and attack the guardians. Everyone else will stay close to us and act as meat shields."

We all stared at Helios with annoyed expressions on our faces. "See, this is why you don't make the plans." Mai sighed.

"Ok here's what we're really going to do." I said. "Kirito will charge towards the top of the tree at full speed. Alice, Helios and I will cover him and keep away as many guardians as we can. The rest of you will stay in the rear of the group and heal us from afar."

We were all in agreement so we entered through the doors of the World Tree. Everything was dark when we first entered. Once the lights came on, we all gasped in shock. Several hundred humanoid enemies floated above us. The top must have been a mile up. This wasn't going to be easy.

We all got into position and charged in. Several guardians flew in to intercept us. Alice, Helios, and I slashed through their first wave of guardians and Kirito flew on ahead with his incredible speed. The three of us flew after him. We got closer and closer to the top until a wall of guardians blocked us. Their numbers quickly overwhelmed us. Multiple blades slashed at us and we fell down the tree quite a bit before we recovered.

"Great. What do we do now?" Helios said. Suddenly, Lyfa's friend Recon flew past us. He flew into the swarm of guardians and started chanting a spell. A sphere of flames slowly began to surround him and grow in size. It engulfed a large amount of guardians in a huge explosion. Guardians quickly replaced the lost ones though Recon was gone.

"Well he died for nothing. At least he went out with a bang." Helios joked. A bang to the head from Lyfa soon followed.

"My god you're an ass!" Lyfa yelled.

"You have no idea." Alice added. "But we need a new plan. We can't keep this up."

"So what do we..." Mai began to ask, but several shouts from bellow us caught our attention. Several hundred players flew up the tree. They consisted of Sylph and Cait Sith players.

"Please tell me they're on our side." I said.

"Yeah. They're with us." Lyfa assured us. The army of players quickly came up and joined the fight. Two females flew near us. The first was a Sylph who introduced herself as Sakuya. The second was a Cait Sith that flew on a large dragon. She was called Alicia.

"Sorry we're late Kirito. You guys can take a break if you want." Alicia smirked.

"Hell no! This party's just getting started. There's no way I'm missing this." I replied. We all charged in again. The Cait Sith's dragons burned away a large amount of guardians. A large horde charged at Kirito, but he smashed right through them, breaking through the horde and reached the top.

"Alright! He did it!" Lyfa cheered.

We flew down and retreated. The rest was up to Kirito now. We all stood outside the World Tree exhausted. "He actually did it. That Kirito sure is something." Sakuya said.

"Well he did save everyone in SAO. Conquering amazing things like this is nothing to him." Lyfa smiled.

"Wait. Did you say SAO? The death game?" Sakuya interrupted. Lyfa covered her mouth realizing her mistake.

"Oh well. No point hiding it now." I sighed. I went on to explain how we were SAO survivors and why we were here. The others were shocked to hear everything.

"So this Asuna is at the top of the World Tree? Why is she there in the first place?" Sakuya wondered.

We all stood there pondering the question. Like Sakuya said, the fact that Asuna was in ALO at all made no sense. Suddenly a scream from Sakuya interrupted us. We looked over and saw he fall over. A long dagger was sticking out from her shoulder. Alicia soon did the same with another dagger stabbed into her shoulder. A voice spoke to us from the sky.

"So you want to know what's going on at the top of the World Tree do you? I think I can help you with that."

We looked up to see a lone player up in the sky. He had a large amount of armor on. It was a tan color with a white trim. His wings were a silver color. He had dark brown hair and a large two-handed sword in his hand.

"Who the heck are you?!" I asked.

"You may refer to me as Yamato, right hand man to his majesty, Lord Oberon! And I'll refer to the lot of you as trash." the player responded.

"Ok Mr. Full Of Himself, what do you know about Asuna?" Helios said.

"What I know is that you have no chance of saving her. Neither does that Spriggan friend of yours running around up there." Yamato replied. "But you do deserve a reward for clearing the World Tree, so I'll treat you to my full hospitality!" Yamato snapped his fingers and several dots appeared from the clouds above. When the clouds parted, an army of guardians we just faced were visible in the sky.

"Oh and I can't forget the best part!" Yamato laughed. He stretched his arms out and shouted. "System Command! Cancel all log out attempts inside area Alne! Set pain absorber to level five!"

We all stood there in awe. This guy had full control of the system. And to make things worse, we couldn't escape by logging out.

"Now here's what's going to happen. Since players don't lose hp in cities, I'll just beat you until you're unconscious. Then you can join the other 300 SAO players." Yamato smirked. He looked towards his army of guardians.

"Ok guardians, time for the scavenger hunt. Here's the rules. Heads of regular players are one point. Fairy race leaders are fifty points. SAO survivors will be one hundred points. Now go have fun!" At his command, several guardians descended towards us. A large amount of players stood there paralyzed with fear. The guardians were about to be within striking distance of us until I charged at them and slashed them in the blink if an eye, reducing them to dust.

"So... How many points are those?" I smirked.

The other incoming guardians froze themselves in their tracks. Yamato put a smirk on his face. "Futile resistance. One of my favorite types of opponents." Yamato chuckled.

"I'll give you one chance. Leave now and return Asuna and the other SAO survivors." I glared.

"Oh an ultimatum! I love ultimatums. Here's mine." Yamato said looking towards his guardians. "Either kill them or be killed by me!" The guardians charged at us once again. I looked towards the players around me.

"Get ready to fight everyone!" I said.

"How? There's no way we can beat all of them." one player said.

"Yeah. Plus that guy is a GM! We don't have a chance." another player trembled.

"So what?!" Helios yelled at them. "I'd rather fight and die than just give up like a sissy!"

"Wow. For once you and I agree on something Helios." Alice smirked.

"I agree. I refuse to surrender without even trying." Sakuya said, slowly getting to her feet.

"Yeah. Giving up isn't my style." Alicia added as she got up too. Players began to nod their heads in agreement. We were ready to fight.

"Alright everyone! Charge!" I yelled. With that, we all flew up and charged into battle.

**A/N: Once again, I would like to apologize. I know most of this was a recap of SAO episodes in the anime. I wanted to add the final battle to be in this, but like I said before, school has kept me busy. I will try to post the next chapter as soon as I can. Until then everyone.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: It's time for the big battle at the World Tree everyone has been waiting for. I hope you all enjoy it.**

Our army of players flew through the air, cutting down guardian after guardian. Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to last forever. There was no end to the unending swarm of guardians. Our only chance at victory was to take down Yamato. Alice, Helios, and I charged at him while the others kept the guardians busy. As we got in close, Yamato swung his massive sword at us. The three of us quickly moved our weapons into a defensive position. Yamato's sword sent us flying back several meters.

"I'm surprised to see SAO survivors here." Yamato said. "But you still have no chance. I'm going to destroy all of you."

"Let's see you try!" Alice yelled, charging at Yamato with her scythe. He was able to easily deflect her scythe and swung his blade yet again, sending Alice flying into the side of the World Tree.

"Alice!" I called out, flying over to her. Yamato hovered over and blocked my path, knocking me back with his sword. Helios attacked soon after. Yamato knocked his axe into the air and followed up by kneeing Helios in the coconuts.

_Ow! That one's gonna hurt him later._

The three of us continued attacking Yamato, but were unable to land any hits. Eventually, Yamato hit me with a powerful slash, plummeting me into the ground bellow. I didn't even have the strength to get on my feet. After another minute or so, Helios came crashing down as well.

"He keeps kicking me in the dick. Why... why does it have to be the dick?" Helios said weakly.

Looking around as I laid on the ground, I could see the others weren't doing so well either. The guardians overwhelming numbers were beginning to overpower everyone. A sudden scream from Alice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Ren! Help!"

I looked up into the sky and saw Alice in serious trouble. She seemed to be completely paralyzed. Yamato hovered over towards her.

"You know, I find it unfair that the boss gets to have all the fun with that girl. I'm sure he won't mind me turning you into my own personal doll." Yamato smirked.

"Get away from me!" Alice screamed. She couldn't move and Yamato was practically right next to her.

_Damn it! Move you shitty excuse for a body!_

"Yes. I'm positive we'll be able to have loads of fun!" Yamato laughed menacingly.

"Ren! Please, help!" Alice cried out.

_Move damn it! I don't care how, just move!_

"HELP!"

_MOVE DAMN IT!_

I got up with my legs wobbling from lack of strength. But I was not going to let Yamato do whatever he wanted with Alice.

"You can actually stand? I'm impressed." Yamato grinned.

"Get away from Alice NOW!" I glared.

"Why don't you come up here and make me?" Yamato laughed.

I grabbed my sword off the ground. My eyes went from anger to hatred and I spread my wings, ready to take off.

"You just made a big mistake." I glared.

"Oh? What's that? Yamato asked.

"You lost any chance of me keeping you're pain to a minimum."

"Oooooo I'm SO scared." Yamato laughed.

"You should be." a voice spoke up. Looking up next to the world tree, a screen popped up. On the other side of it was Kirito.

"No way... impossible... What about Lord Oberon?"

"Taken care of." Kirito replied. He looked over towards me. "Let me guess. Pain absorber set to zero and allow everyone to log out?"

"I'd appreciate it." I responded.

"Done." Kirito said. He maneuvered his menu and tapped several buttons. With that his screen disappeared. As I prepared to take off, Helios chocked out a few words.

"Sorry Ren. I can't even stand. You'll have to do this on your own."

"You just need the right motivation." I said. "Think of it this way. Do you really want to stay there looking like a piece of trash. Just like..."

"Don't you say it." Helios warned.

"Just like Riku."

Helios immediately got to his feet with a roar. "You can kick me in the dick. You can pound me into the dirt. But you do NOT make me look like Riku!"

"Impossible... Lord Oberon... There's no way..." Yamato was speechless. I charged straight up and Yamato turned his gaze towards me with an expression of fear on his face. He put his blade into a defensive stance. I swung my sword and slashed his hand off that was holding the sword. I grabbed the massive blade before it could fall.

"I always wanted to give dual wielding a try. Kirito makes it look so fun." I grinned. "I hope you don't mind being my practice dummy." Yamato's fear was more intense than ever. He began to fly away, until a hit from Helios sent him falling down.

"That... was for... me dick. Vengeance... is... mine." Helios said exhausted.

I flew down at Yamato, assaulting him with a barrage of slashes. My final hit sent him crashing into the ground. I was standing on top of him before he could get up.

"We're gonna play a little game." I glared. "Here's the rules. I ask a question. You answer. Break the rules..." I said as I drived Yamato's massive sword into his right arm. "And that will happen." Yamato cried out in pain. His suffering was probably immense, but after what he did to Alice, I didn't care.

"First question: where are the 300 SAO players?" I asked.

"I-I don't know!" Yamato pleaded. "I swung my sword into him as well.

"I forgot one other rule: No lying. Now where are they?"

"In the top of the World Tree, there's a hidden lab. They're in there." Yamato replied.

I got some more answers out of Yamato. When I was done interrogating him, I kicked him in the face before walking away.

"Thanks for playing." I said. Yamato fell unconscious due to the pain. I looked up towards Alice. Her paralysis seemed to have vanished. Suddenly, her wings vanished and she began to fall. She screamed in terror, until I caught her midair.

"Ren?! I was so worried! Are you ok?!" Alice asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you. Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine thanks to you." Alice replied. When we got to the ground, I helped Alice get to her feet and she grabbed me and pulled me in for a kiss. My face lit up bright red.

"Oh. Am I embarrassing you Mr. Hero?" Alice smiled.

"W-What?! N-No!" I stuttered. Everyone cracked up laughing. Dagger walked over to Helios and kissed his cheek. His face was redder than mine.

"What's this? Are you embarrassed too Helios?" Dagger laughed.

"What?! No I... Oh what the hell?" Helios shrugged leaning Dagger over for a kiss.

Recon walked over towards Lyfa. He gave her a kiss on the lips. Lyfa responded by sending him flying back with her fist.

"What are you doing?! Give a girl some warning first!" Lyfa blushed.

"Ow! You do know the pain absorber is still at zero right?" Recon complained.

"That's what you get!"

"Aw man! Everyone has someone to kiss except me!" Mai complained.

"I think Riku's available." I joked.

"On second thought, maybe being single isn't so bad." Mai shivered.

I looked over to Alice and looked into her beautiful smiling face. "Well I like being in a relationship. Especially one with you." I said.

"Well I am pretty great." Alice laughed. We all had a quick celebration and then logged out. I awoke to find Clair right next to my bed.

"You're back!" Clair exclaimed cheerfully. "How did it go? Did you save Asuna?"

"Yeah. Its all over now." I replied.

"That's great!" Clair's face was covered with joy. I suddenly heard footsteps coming. But Clair and I were the only ones supposed to be in the house. Clair looked at me with a foreboding expression on her face.

_Don't tell me..._

The footsteps subsided as their owner walked into the room. At the door to my bedroom was my mother.

_I'd like to go back to fighting Yamato and his army of guardians now, please._

"Your father and I thought we should surprise you by coming home early." my mom explained with a subtle angry tone. "I didn't expect to be the one surprised by seeing my son wearing that death trap again."

"Look mom I can explain. I was..."

"Your sister already explained why you were wearing it." my mom interrupted. Her face lit up with rage. "What were you thinking?! Did you learn nothing from being trapped in SAO for two years?!"

"Listen. I..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" My mom screamed. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!"

"DAMMIT LISTEN TO ME!" I yelled. "Asuna was one of my best friends in SAO. I finally got a clue to her whereabouts. Did you expect me to sit on my ass and do nothing?! If there's one lesson I learned in SAO it was to never turn my back on my friends, no matter how dangerous it was!"

My mom was taken back by my outburst. She stood there shocked. Tears began to roll down her eyes. "I just... I was so worried every day you were in SAO. When I came home and saw you wearing that again, I..."

"I'm not a little kid anymore." I said. A faint smile appeared on her face.

"No... I suppose you're not." she admitted.

I refrained from going into too much detail when I explained what happened in ALO. It wouldn't help me much to admit how close I was to not coming back. After dinner, I headed to bed and quickly drifted to sleep, exhausted from everything that happened today.

**A/N: Next chapter will be the end of the ALO arc everybody. But do not worry. I will be going further on in this story with various new adventures. I hope everyone enjoys what is to come. If you have any ideas for future chapters, please feel free to PM me. Comments and reviews are welcome as well.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: It's time for the finale of Blazing Revolution's ALO arc. But do not worry readers. I will be posting more chapters of Wyvern Inferno's adventures after the events of ALO. This story is far from finished. **

The day after we finished our rescue mission in ALO, we went over to the hospital to see Asuna. Clair was really excited to meet her. While the two of them chatted, I talked with Kirito later about the details we had gotten together from Yamato and Oberon, who I learned was actually a guy named Sugou that worked for Asuna's dad. The group of scientists were arrested and we were able to free all of the 300 SAO players.

A couple months later, we had a party to celebrate Asuna finishing her rehabilitation. We all met up at Agil's bar. Clair wanted to meet everyone, so I brought her along as well. She and the others really got along, especially her and Kirito's sister Suguha. When Kirito and Asuna arrived, we all cheered for the guests of honor. After the cheering died down, we all sat down and chatted. Clair was talking and giggling with Silica, Liz, and Suguha. Alice, Helios, Mai, and I were busy chatting about ALO at another table.

"I gotta say it's gotten kind of boring now that there's no big heroic adventure for us. I miss the action." Helios sighed.

"You mean you LIKED Yamato kicking your ass and doing... that... to you?" I said.

"Of course not! I liked it when I was the one kicking ass. And please try not to make me think about that." Helios replied.

"What did he do?" Kirito asked, coming over and taking a seat at our table.

"Yamato kicked him in the balls repeatedly. It was painful to watch back then, but now it's pretty funny." Mai explained. Helios glared over at the young brunette while Kirito used all of his self control to not burst out laughing.

"Yeah, you guys really got your butts kicked." Kirito said.

"Wait, how would you know how badly we were losing?" Helios wondered.

Kirito sat there stuttering. "Um... well I..."

"YOU DICK! YOU WERE WATCHING US THE WHOLE TIME!" Helios realized. He swung a punch at Kirito, but the black-haired swordsman caught the punch with his hand.

"Bitch please. I'm Kirito." the black haired swordsman smirked. "Look, to make it up to you guys, the food's on me... wait where's my wallet?"

A snicker from another table caught our attention. Over there, we saw Dagger casually sitting there with Kirito's wallet in her hand, and a devilish smile painted on her face. "Bitch please. I'm Dagger."

"That's my girl!" Helios cheered.

_A few months later..._

"Come on Dan! Hurry up!" Clair called out to me.

"Chill Clair. We'll be there in time." I assured her. "You ready?" After Clair nodded, we spread our wings and took off into the night sky.

After the events in ALO, the game was sold to another group that was able to keep it running. Clair had shown a lot of interest in VRMMOs due to listening to my stories, so I had gotten her an Amu Sphere and a copy of ALO for her birthday. Clair was ecstatic. I was hoping for that reaction, since the money it cost almost made me broke. She decided to make her avatar an Imp, like me and Alice. Her avatar had the same height as her real self with dark-violet hair that fell slightly past her shoulders. She had a violet shirt with a red trim and a black miniskirt. The leather boots she wore were a dark red. Her weapon was a katana with a violet handle and a shiny silver blade that I had gotten Lisbeth to forge for her. She was struggling with moving around and fighting for the first few weeks, but now she had become pretty skilled with it thanks to some lessons from me and Lyfa. Helping her master voluntary flight was a challenge all on it's own, but she was now fairly skilled at it.

My sister and I flew through the skies of Alne, further and further up in the clouds. We met up with Alice, Kirito, and the others midair. At a glance, it didn't seem like anyplace special. The only thing around us were clouds.

"So what's going on? Why are we here?" Clair asked. As she spoke, a bell began to ring, signaling midnight. As the bell tolled, a humungous figure began to cover the moon. Clair gasped in awe as the giant castle blocked out the moon's light, but soon replaced it with several golden shining lights of its own.

"What is that?" Clair gasped.

"That is the floating castle of Aincrad." I answered.

"You're kidding!" Clair exclaimed. "What the heck is that doing here?!"

"Yeah! We wanted a rematch! We never got to clear all hundred floors last time." Helios added.

"So many unopened treasure chests! They're all going to be mine!" Dagger grinned.

"I'm going to become stronger than anyone! I'll be the one to clear floor 100!" Riku said.

"Keep dreaming Riku. Its going to be that much more amusing when you fall flat on your face." Mai laughed.

"Its time for Wyvern Inferno's return! Let's go Ren." Alice smiled.

"You ready Clair?" I asked. Clair nodded with excitement and we took off towards the giant castle in the sky.

**A/N: Ok I know this chapter was really short and I apologize for that. I just wanted to wrap everything up and move on to the next series of adventures in Blazing Revolution. I've gotten some great ideas from readers. If you have any ideas for the future chapters of this story, please feel free to PM me.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: It's everybody's favorite time of the week again folks. Now that the ALO arc is finished, I will be doing chapters that don't pertain to the anime's story. Some will be simple one chapter stories, like today's chapter. Other's will go on for multiple chapters into their own arc. I have gotten many ideas from readers. I hope you enjoy today's chapter and what is to come.**

"Alright class, your homework is due on Monday." the teacher spoke as the bell rang. I got out of my chair and left the classroom. English class was one of my least favorite classes. I had almost fallen asleep on multiple occasions in there. I walked to the courtyard of the school. Sitting on the bench there next to some flowers was Alice. She looked my way with her long black hair flowing through the breeze as she smiled beautifully.

"Hey Ren." Alice greeted.

"Hey Alice." I replied. We sat down together on the bench, with Alice leaning her head on my shoulder. The scenery around us was breathtaking. Flowers decorated the entire courtyard. It had become a popular spot for couples.

"Man it's been a busy week." Alice sighed.

"Yeah. English has been torture all week." I agreed.

"You don't even realize what I'm talking about do you?" Alice said with a pout on her face.

"What?"

"Ren! The school homecoming dance is tomorrow night! I've been helping plan all week, along with Asuna, Liz, and Silica. I told you about this!" Alice scolded.

I had totally forgot! Class and homework had kept me occupied for most of my free time lately. Alice had also been getting really excited about the upcoming event.

"I'm sorry." I apologized with my head bowed down.

"It's hard to believe you were once one of the top players in SAO." Alice giggled.

"Please don't. I get that line enough from Clair." I complained.

We sat there talking about the dance and other school stuff. Eventually it came time to head home. I walked Alice back to her place and then headed back to my house. Saturday night came pretty quickly. I had rented a tux for the big event. My mom was taking pictures of me and Alice together in front of the school. She was wearing an elegant long red dress.

"Ok now smile!" my mom told us, holding her camera.

"Mom, you've taken like twenty pictures! Can we go now?" I asked.

"Oh come on. Just a few more!" my mother begged.

"Hey mom, dad needs your help with something by the car." Clair said walking over to us. My mom sighed and told us to stay there so she could take the last few pictures when she got back. She walked over towards where my dad parked.

"What's wrong with the car?" I asked Clair.

"I lied. Now run, or you'll be here posing all night! I'll cover for you when she gets back." Clair told us once my mom was out of earshot.

"Thanks Clair. I owe you big time!" I said. Alice and I ran into the school before my mom could get back. When we got in, we saw Kirito and Asuna at a table along with Helios and Dagger. We walked over and talked while we ate dinner. After an hour or so, the dances started. I grabbed Alice's hand and walked her over to the dance floor. We danced through a few songs before heading back to the table. When we got back to the table, we saw Dagger sitting there alone with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong Dagger?" Alice asked.

"Helios said he was going to get some punch right after I asked to dance with him. I just checked the punch bowl, and he wasn't there." Dagger answered in a depressed tone.

"Helios? I just saw him standing by the courtyard." Mai said, walking over to us.

Alice had a look of annoyance on her face when her sister revealed Helios's location. "Don't worry Dagger. I'll make Helios come back here even if I have to drag him here." she assured the red haired girl. Alice stormed off towards the courtyard in pursuit of Helios. She looked like a wolf moving towards its prey.

"Guess I better go too. Can't have Alice killing Helios." I sighed.

"Yeah. Too many witnesses." Mai agreed.

I ran after Alice, catching up with her right before we reached the courtyard. We saw Helios sitting on a bench by himself, holding a glass of punch.

"Hey guys." Helios said in a hollow tone when he noticed us.

"Don't 'Hey guys' me you jerk!" Alice yelled. She grabbed Helios by the collar and lifted him off the bench.

"Hey! What's wrong with you?!" Helios asked.

"What's wrong with YOU?! Dagger's been sitting there sulking cause you left her alone! What reason could you possibly have to excuse you from-"

"I can't dance!" Helios interrupted. We all stood there in silence awkwardly. Alice finally broke it by slapping Helios in the face.

"That's a shitty answer Helios. This is low, even for you." Alice scolded. "What is more important to you? Your stupid pride or Dagger?" Once again we stood there in silence. "You actually need to THINK about your answer?!" Alice said, shocked.

Helios finally stepped away from Alice. He handed her his cup. Before leaving, he uttered three words.

"Hold. My. Punch."

We watched as Helios walked inside. I was about to go in as well, but Alice grabbed my arm.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We're all alone in a field of flowers under the night sky. We should have a slow dance here." Alice suggested.

"Oh I plan on dancing with you here for quite a bit later tonight. But first, you wanna see Helios dance?"

"I like the way you think." Alice giggled. The two of us walked inside to find Helios dancing with Dagger... if you could call what Helios was doing dancing. Lots of people had their phones out, videotaping the comedy gold. Alice and I joined them.

"Oh Internet, this is so going all over you." I laughed as I recorded the moment everybody would be talking about for the rest of the night.

After Helios and Dagger were done, I brought Alice back out to the courtyard. We danced together, swaying in the night and illuminated by the stars. When the dance was over, Alice came home with me. We had already gotten permission from our folks ahead of time. Alice went straight for my room after taking a shower. I was getting a quick drink of water before I went to bed until my mom came downstairs.

"Are you sure the both of you will be alright in the same bed together?" my mom asked.

"We'll be fine mom. We're seventeen. We aren't little kids anymore." I assured her.

"Alright just use protection." my mom warned. My face went absolutely red at her comment.

"Mom! I didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm just joking dear." my mom laughed.

"Mom, what did you mean by protection?" Clair asked. We turned out heads towards her, just realizing she was there. I have been in many awkward scenes in my life, but this one takes the cake by a landslide. I immediately walked away.

"Dan?! Don't leave me here like this! Help." my mother begged.

"You started this mess. You can dig yourself out of this." I told my her. I walked away upstairs and left my mom to clean up the mess she made.

**A/N: Like I said, hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always please feel free to post any comments, reviews, or suggestions you have or PM me if you have ideas for future chapters.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello again readers of Blazing Revolution. Time again for another chapter. Just like before, if anyone has any comments, reviews, or suggestions for future chapters please feel free to post them or PM me.**

**On another note, I have recently got the PS Vita game _Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment_. Let me just say that any fan of SAO will LOVE this game! For those of you that haven't heard of it, the game is basically a 'What If' scenario of Kirito and everyone advancing from floors 75 to 100 instead of the original story line of everyone being set free at floor 75. Kirito and Asuna don't die, Yui is brought back, and Lyfa and Sinnon are brought into the game, as well as new original characters not in the anime. Long story short, a lot happens. So I got to thinking, 'What if Ren and Wyvern Inferno were set in it'? I would like to hear your oppinions of whether you would all like to see a new story with this scenario. Whether I make it or not will be based on your feedback so if you want to see this, please PM me.**

_Where am I?_

I walked through a long beautiful field. It seemed to go on forever. I walked across the plains until I came to a large tree. When I walked up to the tree, I could see something carved into the trunk. It was a date.

January 3, 2023.

The second I recognized the date, the entire scenery changed. The vast blue sky became coated with the color of blood. The fields of grass were replaced by a wasteland. A tombstone emerged from the ground. It looked old and withered. Inscribed on it was the same date as the one on the tree. A voice echoed through my head.

_"Why... why didn't you protect me? Why Ren?"_

I kneeled down covering my ears, trying to block out the voice. But no matter what I did, the voice wouldn't leave me. Instead, it just echoed louder and louder.

_"Why Ren... Why?"_

"Please! Just go away! Go away!" I screamed. The noise continued on and on.

_"Ren... Ren... Ren..."_

"Shut up! Just shut up!" I yelled. My vision slowly faded to black.

When I could see again, I found myself in my room. I was sweating like crazy and short of breath. It was just a bad dream. That's all it was. I looked over to my digital clock. It read 8:00 am... January 3. Clair came running into my room.

"Dan, are you ok? You were screaming like crazy." Clair told me. I was still catching my breath.

"Yeah... I'm fine Clair... don't worry." I assured her.

After breakfast, I told my parents I was going to hang with Alice and headed out. It was snowing out so I grabbed a winter coat and scarf. I walked through the streets and took the bus to a few blocks from my destination. When I arrived, I looked up at the sign at the entrance.

SAO Memorial Cemetery

I walked through the cemetery dedicated to those that died in SAO. Their real bodies weren't buried here, but it was set up so those of us that survived the death game could come to pay our respects. When I eventually reached the tombstone I was looking for, Alice was already there. She was dressed up in her own winter clothing. We greeted each other with halfhearted smiles. Neither of us felt overly cheerful today. We gazed upon the tombstone, looking at the name inscribed.

Historia

Date of death: January 3, 2024

"Its already been two years. It's hard to believe." Alice said.

"Yeah. I still wish I could have done something." I sulked.

"You did everything you could Ren. You can't blame yourself." Alice replied.

Two years... two years since the death of Historia. The seventh member of Wyvern Inferno.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**June 12, 2023**

"Finish it Ren!" Alice cheered. I charged at the Inferno Spider as my blade lit up with a green aura and slashed right across the monster's underbelly. The last monster in the mob shattered and I sheathed my blade. A window popped up in front of me, presenting my item drops and exp amount.

Alice, Helios, Mai, Riku, and I had been grinding through the fields of floor 43, the current front lines, for the past few days. The monsters here weren't much of a problem for us, although we were a bit exhausted from fighting Inferno Spiders and Dire Wolves for the whole day. We continued walking through the fields until a voice entered our hearing.

_"I was never right for the hero type of role. I admit it with my heart."_

We followed the singing to the edge of a hill. We found a girl with long blonde hair sitting there.

_"Once in my dreams I rose and soared. No matter how I'm knocked around or beaten down, I will stand up restored."_

We stood there and listened to her melodious voice. When she finished, she turned our way and smiled.

"Oh, hello there. I didn't realize anyone was listening. Did you like the song?" she asked

"Yeah." I said. "You have a great voice. What's the name of that song?"

"It's an original song I created. I call it Crossing Field." the blonde girl responded, standing up. She looked about 15. Her equipment consisted of a blue shirt, green pants, and black boots. She had a long spear slung across her back.

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Historia." the blonde girl told us. We all introduced ourselves. Suddenly, I heard a low growl. I turned around to see several Dire Wolves coming our way. They were closing in fast.

"We've got company guys!" I warned. The others turned around to see the pack of wolves approaching, lead by a Head Dire Wolf. It let out a loud howl, and we soon found more wolves coming from multiple directions. There seemed to be about twelve wolves in total. We all got our weapons out and charged at the incoming wolf packs.

I prepared to take out the pack leader. My blade became coated with a blue light and I spun myself like a cyclone. The blade was about to cut down the wolf. However, right before impact, my sword was caught by the wolf's fangs. We stood there deadlocked, each of us waiting for the other's strength to give out. More wolves came from behind, preparing to rip me apart as my blade was trapped inside their leader's mouth. Just as they leaped at me, a flash of red appeared and Historia skewered the wolves behind me with her spear.

"Thanks for the save." I said.

"Don't mention it." Historia replied.

The stalemate between the wolf and I continued. I don't know if these monsters had any feelings, but if they did, I know that this wolf was filled with a powerful sense of pride. It would fight on till its dying breath. I finally got it to give in as I pushed my blade further and further, finally cutting through the fangs and slashing the wolf in half. The pack leader shattered into fragments. The wolves around us soon ran away, as all Dire Wolves do once their leader is taken out. We all collapsed from exhaustion.

"Well... that was unexpected." Alice said.

"Yeah. I was surprised by that attack there, Historia." I complemented. "Not many people can take down three Dire Wolves with one strike."

"Thanks. I've actually been a solo player for quite a bit, so my level and skills are pretty high." Historia replied.

"Have you ever thought about joining a guild?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, but not a lot of front line guilds are recruiting right now."

"If you'd like, we'd be happy to have you join us." I invited.

"Really?!" Historia gasped.

"Sure. You're obviously good with that spear. You'd be a great addition to the team." Alice insisted.

"Well in that case, I'd love to join you." Historia replied.

"Alright then." I smiled. "Historia, welcome to Wyvern Inferno."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few weeks passed by quickly. Historia had now become a full fledged member of Wyvern Inferno. Her clothes were now red and black to match the guild's colors. She had been a big help to us. She also was great off the battlefield. Historia seemed to have this optimistic personality that could cheer up even the most depressed people. Her singing voice also made the parties a lot more fun. She would get on a table and dance across the tavern while singing various original songs. Dozens of players cheered whenever they heard the blonde player's melodious voice.

Alice and I were walking through the town area of floor 41. The landscape was filled with an ashy red look. Showers of black dust came frequently. It made sense since the main dungeon on this floor was a volcano.

"Why did you want to have our date here?" I asked. "It's not exactly the most romantic of floors."

"It's just up ahead." Alice explained. We turned a corner and I found the reason Alice chose this place. A wide field filled with hundreds of crimson red flowers bloomed across the area. It seemed to stretch out quite a bit. "They call these flowers Fire Lilies. I liked the look because they remind me of you."

"How so?" I asked.

"Even in a desolate area where flowers usually shouldn't be able to survive, these lilies still bloom beautifully. Kinda like how you can always pull us through a situation no matter how bad things seem."

"That's because I've got you to watch my back." I smiled. I picked up one of the Fire Lilies and put it in the side of her hair. The flower kept its blooming figure, making Alice seem even more beautiful.

"You always know the best things to keep me smiling." Alice giggled. She leaned in and we kissed.

On the way back to the teleport gate, we walked past the center of the town. We stopped when we saw two familiar faces sitting on a bench: Historia and Helios.

"You wanna hear a joke Helios?" Historia asked.

"Sure." Helios responded.

"Oh no. This is bad! When Helios hears a bad joke, things never end well." Alice gasped. We quickly ran over to Historia to try and stop her, but we stopped in our tracks when we saw something we had never seen before. Helios, of all people, was smiling.

"Did... did Helios just give a heartfelt smile?" Alice gasped, looking at me.

"I know... it's kinda weird." I agreed. Helios continued to surprise us by giving a laugh.

"I've only heard Helios laugh when he's just slaughtered an enemy. WHAT SORT OF BLACK MAGIC IS AT WORK HERE?!" We stood there dumbfounded as the two enjoyed a pleasant conversation. Historia's incredible power of optimism was not something to be underestimated.

Weeks continued to go by and we steadily climbed up the floors. Before we knew it, we were at floor 49. Things seemed like they would continue going on happily, as if nothing could go wrong.

Until that day...

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed Historia's character so far. Like I said before, fell free to comment, or PM me if you have ideas for future chapters or would like to give feedback on whether you would like to see a story of Hollow Fragment with Wyvern Inferno in it.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Time for yet another Blazing Revolution chapter readers. Please post any comments, reviews, or suggestions you have.**

Night was slowly darkening the skies as we walked through the woods back to town. We had gone through a long day of grinding in the fields.

"The stars are so beautiful." Mai smiled, looking up at the night sky. I stared at the sky as well and admired the twinkling white dots scattered across the vast sky.

My head turned to a nearby bush where I thought I heard a noise. I didn't see anything with my detection skill activated so I shrugged it off and continued to walk. Historia was telling jokes as we made our way to town, making us all smile and laugh. Another faint noise entered my hearing. I scanned the area with my detection skill once again. Nothing came up.

"Stop walking guys." I said. Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned towards me with a puzzled look.

"What's wrong Ren?" Alice asked. The sound of rustling got louder. It's owner wasn't going to be hiding anymore.

"Weapons out! Now!" I ordered. We all unsheathed our weapons as several figures jumped out of the trees and bushes and surrounded us. They all wore brown hoods covering their faces. I recognized them instantly by the emblem on their clothes. It was the emblem of Laughing Coffin.

"Pretty bold coming to the front lines and ambushing a top guild." I said.

"What can we say? We like to live on the edge." one of the hooded players smirked. His buddies chuckled in agreement. This was getting worse by the minute.

"What do you want?" Alice asked, maintaining a cold stare.

"Well it's been forever since I had a fun time with a girl. You three chicks will do." another player grinned.

"Not happening." I replied.

"Oh well. I guess we'll just have to settle with... TAKING YOUR LIVES!" the leader of the group yelled. He snapped his fingers and the group of red players pulled out their weapons and charged at us.

I blocked the player that attacked me with my own blade. I forced him back and a new player slashed at me. I continued to block the incoming blades with no openings for me to attack. Several small cuts from the attacks covered my body. My hp was in the yellow zone. A player appeared behind me and lunged his sword towards my back.

"REN! LOOK OUT!" Alice screamed.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity. The red glow of the blade coming closer seemed to move in slow motion. A direct hit would almost surely kill me. The blade made contact, but it wasn't with me. It was with the person who stepped in between me and the red player. Her blonde hair swayed in my face as the sword pierced her body. The spear she held cut her opponent and took out the rest of his hp. My opponents in front of me jumped back as the blonde girl fell into my arms.

"Historia... no... please God no." I gasped. Tears began to roll down my face.

"Don't cry... Ren." Historia said in a weak voice. Her hp was drastically decreasing. There was no saving her now. "I'm happy I got to meet you and everyone. I'm happy I got to have fun at all those parties. Most of all, I'm happy I got to have all those laughs and fun times with you guys. So please... don't cry Ren." She gave a smile and closed her eyes as her body shattered into fragments, leaving nothing behind.

"Historia... why... HISTORIA!" I cried out into the night.

"Good job boys. That's one down." The head of the group grinned. My gaze immediately turned towards them. Every ounce of rage I had was directed into the glare I gave them.

"You bastards aren't getting away with this." I glared.

"Finish him off." the leader commanded.

Several players began to charge at me. They didn't even have time to react as my blade became veiled in a red glow and I slashed past all of them in the blink of an eye. They shattered as I passed by them. My blade kept its glow as I skidded to a halt next to the leader. My blade spun in a full circle and knocked him back into a tree when he blocked the slash at the last second.

"You're better than I thought. Guess we'll just have to settle this another day." he smirked as he jumped back into the trees along with his surviving friends.

I walked back over to the others, my face emptied of anything happy. Historia's death was still sinking in to them. Even Helios was silent.

"Historia... it can't be." Mai said, trying to fool herself into thinking this was all just some bad dream. Tears began to roll down her eyes and she ran into Alice's arms crying.

A memorial service was held for Historia the next day. The weather gave us a downpour as we mourned. Many players showed up, as Historia was popular on the front lines for her optimistic personality. We all grieved for the loss of the fallen player. Afterwards, players slowly began to walk away. I was eventually left alone standing in the rain. Alice walked over to me.

"Ren... you ok?" she asked.

"I was so useless. I couldn't do anything." I said in a depressed tone.

"You can't blame yourself Ren. You did everything you could."

"I'm supposed to be the leader of this guild! What kind of leader lets his friend get killed protecting him?!" I yelled, angry at my worthlessness. Alice grabbed my head and forced me to meet her gaze.

"The human kind. No leader is perfect Ren. No leader can save everyone. What matters is what you do next." Alice said. "No matter what, I still have complete faith in you. Historia wouldn't want you to keep sulking. She'd want you to get back up and keep forging on."

"What if I can't, Alice?! What if I get Helios, Mai, or even you killed?!"

"That won't happen. I promise." Alice spoke as she wrapped her arms around me, embracing me with her warmth as rain poured around us. We walked back to the tavern together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

January 3, 2026

Alice and I stood in the cemetery, staring at the tombstone of our dead friend. Memories of the times we spent together flashed through my head. After a few minutes, Helios, Mai, and Dagger showed up as well.

"Hey guys." I said. "Did you bring the gift I asked, Mai?"

"Yeah. Here it is." Mai replied, pulling out a small, decorative, wind-up box. She gave it to me. I wound it up and placed the box in front of Historia's tombstone. A melody began to play of Historia's song, Crossing Field.

"How'd you get a recording of that song? I thought it was an original from Historia." Helios wondered.

"I met her family after SAO. She wrote the song before entering the game. I asked them to give me a copy of the melody for this music box." I explained. As we all stood there, we felt as if could hear Historia's voice in the background.

_"Once in my dreams I rose and soared. No matter how I'm knocked around or beaten down, I will stand up restored. All of my love has yet to wake. I know your strength is what I lack. You've got my back. And now that I've got yours. I have you to thank for lighting up the dark. Because you're here with me our dreams will soar free forever."_

**A/N: I hope you all liked this story everyone. For the next one, I will be doing a new flashback to Wyvern Inferno's time in SAO. Look forward to it everyone.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Ok, I know last week I said this chapter would be a flashback, but with Thanksgiving coming up I decided to do a chapter for the holidays. I ended up finishing early and started working on the flashback chapter right after that. Luckily I ended up finishing both by the end of the week, so I decided to upload both as a gift to all you dedicated fans of the story for Thanksgiving. Hope you all enjoy it. Also, I decided to try changing this story into a third person POV. Please feel free to comment on whether you like it in this style or not.**

The ending bell echoed throughout the school, signaling the end of the day, making students cheer with excitement. The day had seemed like an eternity, but finally school was over and Thanksgiving break could start. Ren and his friends all walked out of the school's front gate together with autumn leaves covering the grass.

"Finally, we get a break!" Helios cheered. "A whole five days of no school. This is exactly what I need."

"I think you're forgetting about that essay that's due when we get back." Alice reminded her excited friend.

"Darn it, I forgot about that! Why did teach have to give us homework over break?"

"Helios, we got the assignment a week ago." Ren pointed out. "You just put it off for too long. The rest of us finished it already."

The dark haired teen sighed at his procrastination. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I suppose I'll just have to wing it. See you guys later!" Helios waved goodbye to his friends as he sprinted off towards his house.

"What a guy." Alice said, rolling her eyes. "Well, I gotta get going too. I promised my mom I'd help her cook for Thanksgiving. See you after break, Ren." The black haired female gave her boyfriend a quick kiss and ran off, along with Mai.

Ren continued the rest of his trip home solo. When he walked into his house, his sister Clair greeted him with a warm smile. "Hey big brother! Welcome home!"

Ren rubbed his little sister's hair playfully as he often did. "Hey sis. You have a good day at school?"

"Yeah." Clair replied as she tried to tidy up the mess her brother had made of her brunette hair. The sibling duo walked into the kitchen where their mom was currently cooking a turkey.

"Dan, Clair, you're just in time. Lend me a hand with this thing." the mother asked her two kids.

"Wow Mom. That's a big turkey." Ren said in shock.

"It better be. We've going to have fourteen people total here for Thanksgiving."

Ren and Clair gave their mother a hand with preparing the turkey and getting it into the oven. Afterwards, Ren and Clair sat down and started talking about ALO as they usually did during their free time.

The next day came quickly. It wasn't even two in the afternoon before Ren's house was filled with relatives. Ren, Clair, and a few of their cousins were currently in their basement playing some older video games.

"Geez Dan, you're killing it here." Dent, one of Ren's cousins complained. "I know you've always had a thing for video games, but I can't even keep up."

"Heh, pure skill. Nothing else." Ren grinned in satisfaction that he still hadn't lost his touch at these old games.

"Come to think of it, isn't that new school you're going to filled with survivors from that SAO game." another one of his cousins, Yolko, asked, but soon put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry. I forgot we're not supposed to talk about that."

"No, don't worry. It's fine." Ren assured his cousin. "I don't mind talking about it. But to answer your question, yes. A lot of friends I made in SAO go to there."

"I heard you also got a girlfriend in that game." Dent said with a smirk on his face. "Way to go man."

"What's her name? What's she like?" Yolko asked with her curiosity peaked.

"Her name's Alice. We met early on in SAO and formed a guild together." Ren said. "She's really nice."

"Wow. Really nice? Great description." Yolko said sarcastically. "Come on Dan, I need DETAILS!"

"Chill out Yolko." Clair said. "Dan gets really nervous when talking about Alice. The first time I met her, he didn't even know how to introduce her. I guess that's to be expected since he's always been like that."

"Clair! Come on, did you really have to say that?" Ren complained as Clair and his two cousins started laughing at the teen's expense.

"Kids, dinners ready!" Ren's mom called down. The group of four came upstairs and took their seats at the long table set up for the family, already covered with food for the meal. Dinner quickly got under way as everyone filled their plates with food. By the time everyone was finished, barely anything was left.

"Wow. That meal was great! I'm stuffed." Dent complimented. "Your mom's a great cook, Dan."

"Too bad those cooking skills didn't rub off on him though." Clair giggled. "Remember that time you tried to cook for Alice? Mom had to end up bailing you out."

"What can I say? Cooking's not my thing." her brother shrugged.

"Wow, cooking for this girl now? She must be pretty special." Yolko grinned. "Never thought you to be a ladies man."

"Yolko come on. Knock it off alre-" Ren was cut off as his phone started ringing. He glanced at it to see it was Alice. "Excuse me." Ren got up from the table and walked into another room so he could hear. "Hello?"

"Is this Dan?" an unfamiliar voice that definitely didn't belong to Alice asked.

"Yes. Who is this?" Ren asked.

"My name is Officer Johnson." the man said. "I'm sorry to bother you on Thanksgiving sir, but you were listed in this phone's emergency contact list."

"Is something wrong?" Ren asked, suddenly worried.

"I'm afraid there is." the officer explained. "Your friend's been in an accident."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The drive down to the hospital was only thirty minutes, but to Ren it seemed like thirty hours. When his mom pulled up to the front of the hospital, Ren immediately got out of the car and ran through the automatic doors, ignoring his mother's call for him to wait up for her. He told the receptionist his name and was directed to room 214 of the hospital. When he got into the room, he could see Alice in a hospital bed. Mai was sleeping in the bed next to her, with only a few scratches on her.

"Alice! Are you ok?! What happened?!" Ren asked his girlfriend.

The black haired teen gave a smile to him in response. "I'm fine, Ren. Don't worry." she assured him. "It's nothing serious. Just a few cuts and bruises."

Alice's mother walked towards Ren. "Thank you for coming to see my daughter." The woman said, quickly bowing her head for a second. "I'm sorry we had to bother you on a holiday."

"Don't worry. Alice is more important than some holiday." Ren said. "Is Mai alright too?"

"Yeah. Her injuries were pretty minor." Alice replied. "The guy in the other car got pretty banged up though."

"What happened anyway?" Ren asked.

"We were driving to my aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner." Alice explained. "The roads were a little slippery from the snow, and another car swerved out of control. It crashed into ours and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself here."

"You sure you're alright?"

"Ren, I said I'm fine. The doctors already checked me out. No serious injuries. A few stiches and I can go home."

Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"Dan? You here?" a voice called out, entering the room. Everyone turned to see Clair at the doorway, along with Ren's mother. "Seriously, I know she's your girlfriend but try not to be so impatient."

"Sorry." Ren apologized. "I couldn't help it."

"Cut your brother some slack Clair. He was very worried about her." Ren's mom told the girl. "Remember how you acted when you heard he was finally back from SAO? You ran so fast that I considered signing you up for your school's track team."

"I guess you're right." Clair admitted. The small brunette turned towards Alice. "You okay?"

"If one more person asks me that, I'm gonna lose it." Alice sighed. "I'm perfectly fine."

Ren, Clair, and their mother stayed at the hospital for a few more hours. Alice eventually got discharged from the hospital and she walked down to the lobby with Ren. When they got there however, both of them were shocked by what they saw. Dent, Yolko, and the rest of Ren's family was there together in the lobby.

"What's everyone doing here?" Ren asked.

"Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for family." Yolko explained. "Anyone who means so much to you that you had to leave us in the middle of Thanksgiving must be pretty important. That makes her family too."

"Plus we wanted to see the famous Alice that you've talked so much about." Dent added.

Ren and Alice stood there with shocked expressions on their faces. The two of them were at a loss for words.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Yolko said. "Introduce us already."

"Oh, right!" Ren said, snapping out of his frozen position. "Everyone, this is Alice. Alice, this is my family."

"It's very nice to meet you all." Alice said, bowing her head.

"Wow, she's pretty cute." Yolko said with a devilish grin. "She's a keeper for sure."

"And this is my cousin Yolko." Ren added. "Try to ignore her."

"Hey! That's a little rude." Ren's cousin pouted.

"Then don't act like that." Dent suggested to the girl, receiving a glare from her in response.

"It's nice to meet you, Yolko." Alice said.

"Likewise Alice." Yolko said, changing her expression to a smile.

After a few minutes of introductions and listening to Yolko, Alice's mother arrived with Mai along with Clair and Ren's mother. The families parted ways and headed home. When they arrived back at Ren's house, Ren's family said their goodbyes as well and headed out, since it was getting late.

"Well it was definitely one eventful holiday." Clair said. "It's good that everything turned out ok."

Ren nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. But now I'm exhausted. I'm gonna take a shower and hit the hay."

"Ok. 'Night bro." Clair said as her brother headed upstairs for the night, saying goodbye to a Thanksgiving that would be remembered for a long time.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ok time for the flashback chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.**

It was a rather peaceful day on floor 60 in Aincrad as Wyvern's Inferno trained out in the open fields. The boss of the floor had just recently been located and many players, solo and guilds alike were getting stronger and gearing up for the next boss raid.

"Woo! Go Mai!" Alice cheered from the sidelines as she and Ren watched from their seat atop a giant stone.

Mai quickly ducked under the slice of a Deadly Killer Mantis and deftly stabbed her rapier into its head. The monster screamed in pain before its life bar dropped to zero and blew up in a blue flash.

"Haha! I'm getting stronger!" Mai said as she triumphantly waved around her weapon.

A sudden hand patted her on the head. She didn't even have to turn around to know who was giving that mocking pat. "Ah that's cute. She thinks killing an overgrown mantis is a challenge worth celebrating. Come back when you can kill a dragon then we'll celebrate."

Mai knocked away the condescending hand and sent a hard look at Helios. "Shut up! It's not like I only focus on strength like you! I do other stuff for this guild!"

Helios rolled his eyes and walked away from her. "Whatever, why don't you hunt some bigger game then we'll talk about being on even terms."

"That guy pisses me off so much." Alice growled. "Who does he think he is talking to Mai like that?"

Ren put a hand on Alice's shoulder and shook his head. "Don't be mad at the guy. He's an ass I know but he means well with what he's saying. He just doesn't know how to say it without being the way he is."

"I guess your right Ren. Can't expect him to change."

"Hey are we done here!?" Dagger yelled out to them. "I've just ran out of wares to sell to the chumps here on this floor and I need to go back to the base to restock!"

"Can you not think of money for one day!?" Ren yelled back at the clan's merchant.

"Oh why don't we answer your question with another question? Can you go one day without making out with Alice over there?" Dagger retorted. Their blushing faces was answer enough. "Yeah that's what I thought."

"Dagger's right though." Helios said as he walked next to her. "There are no challenges here. We're basically all ready to go kick this floor boss's ass. So why don't we-?"

A sudden boom behind the clan sounded, interrupting Helios. The guild turned around to see numerous trees falling to the ground to reveal a giant monster. It was large purple furred canine esque looking beast with two bull like horns and a yellow flowing mane around its neck and back. The name above its head read: Behemoth, as it yelled a fierce battle cry. The guild was shocked to see it was level 100, making it much stronger than anything on this floor. Probably even more powerful than the boss.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Alice yelled as she jumped off her seat and pulled out her weapon.

Ren did the same and drew his blade. "I don't know but there's no way something like this should be here! This looks like something that should appear on floor 70!"

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" A sudden voice yelled behind the beast. Ren looked to see a player jump in the air and stab the Behemoth in the head. "YOU KILLED MY WIFE AND NOW YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

The Behemoth didn't even seemed fazed by the stab as it turned around and rammed its head back where the player was standing on and smashed into a tree. The player cried out in pain before the beast smashed its claws against him, sending his health into the red. The Behemoth lifted i's claws once more, ready to finish its victim off.

"NO!" Alice yelled as she rushed forward and parried the claw swipe away from the man and delivered a Rolling Kick to its maw, sending it skidding back a few feet.

"You impulsive idiot!" Helios yelled out as he drew his axe and charged at the monster. He jumped into the air and took a large swing into its back, making it roar in anger.

"Are you alright sir?" Alice said as she handed him a healing crystal. "Here take this."

"Thank you young lady." The player said weakly as he used it on himself, bringing him back to around almost full HP. "That beast just showed up out of nowhere. My wife and I tried to fight it but she... she..."

"Don't say anymore sir." Alice said as she stood up. "We will help to avenge your wife." Alice turned around and charged at the beast.

Helios swiped his axe against the Behemoth's claw, striking it away from him as he switched with Dagger who jumped on top of the beast and dragged her blade across its back, cutting away a good chuck of its health. The beast suddenly bucked its tremendous body forward, flipping the merchant off his back and knocking her away with its tail. Turning towards the fallen girl, the Behemoth made to charge at her but a stab to its chest stopped it.

"Oh no you don't!" Ren yelled as he jumped backwards from a swipe from the monster. His blade turned yellow as he activated a sword skill and pierced its right eye. "Switch!"

Alice rushed forward and sunk her scythe into the Behemoth's neck and yanked forward, giving its neck a huge, gaping slash dragging its HP to the low red zone.

"I got this!" Mai said as she charged with her rapier thrust forward, glowing red with an active skill. "You're mine beast!"

As she rapidly approached the beast, the monster gave a giant bellow and smashed his claw against Mai's body, knocking her far into a tree. As she hit the tree her health dropped downwards into a dangerous zone of red HP.

"NO MAI!" Alice tried to rush forward to her but the Behemoth gave another mighty roar, sending all the other guild members far away from it and Mai.

"NO DAMNIT!" Ren quickly got up and tried to rush at the monster but it was too late as the Behemoth raised its claws once more to finish the job.

Mai closed her eyes shut out of fear, not wanting to see the claw that would kill her. 'So this is how it ends.' Mai thought in her final moments. 'Never thought I'd be killed like this... Goodbye Alice... Ren... Dagger... even you Helios. I love you all...'

Moments passed as she waited for her fate but it never came. Slowly, Mai opened her eyes to see the Behemoth standing deathly still before it suddenly fell to the ground and disintegrated into a flurry of blue fragments.

"Wh-What!? What happened!?"

She looked around but saw nothing other than her friends and the man staring at her with disbelief on their faces. Soon the shock wore off as Mai made a breakneck run for Alice and hugged her while crying. Alice hugged the crying girl back and soothed her with comforting words.

"Well..." Helios started as he looked at Mai with a small smile. "Good job squirt. You really nailed that thing good."

Mai looked up from Alice's embrace with a confused look. "What are you talking about? I didn't kill it, I thought one of you guys did."

"What? Then who did-?"

"Look!" Dagger pointed towards the rock where Ren and Alice were once sitting to see a young man sitting on top of it with a blade drawn. The young man had long black hair which was tied in a ponytail and a mask sat upon the top part of his face, resembling that of a hawk. He wore a purple oriental shirt with a pair of Japanese styled gii pants that was tied with a red and black striped rope belt. The mystery person slowly sheathed his blade onto his back and turned around to the guild. With deft quickness, he jumped forward and landed in front of Mai and the others. Ren, Helios and Dagger stepped back in shock of the guy's speed while Alice's protective grip on Mai tightened.

"Here..." He said lowly and kneeled down as he brought out a healing crystal and shattered it towards Mai, healing her back to green health. "I trust that you are okay now?"

"Y-Yeah I am... Thanks for saving me..." Mai said softly.

The young man then got up and looked at Alice. Well, one would assume he was looking at her as with the mask on his face, it made it hard to tell. "And you. You should be more careful with your sister. Had I not been here, she would have died."

"Excuse me!?" Alice said as she let go of Mai and gave him a glare. "Where do you get off telling me how I should take care of my sister!?"

"He's kinda right you know." A quick glare from Alice made Helios flinch back. "I'm just saying!"

"Regardless, I am only speaking the truth. You were too careless with her." the young man continued. "She was only level 67 fighting a level 100 Behemoth. In any other circumstance she would have been killed, much like the man's wife before. I don't mean to make you mad, I am just stating my honest opinion."

"Well I don't care!"

"Alice stop!" Mai yelled at her sister. "We should be thanking him, not yelling at him! He saved my life and I am thankful for that." She turned to the young man and bowed to him. "Thank you again for saving me."

"Don't mention it though I am sorry for not showing up in time to save your wife sir."

The man shook his head and patted him on the shoulder. "No son, thank you for avenging her. Now her soul can rest in peace... Please, excuse me..." The man then lifted a teleport crystal. "Teleport! Town of Beginnings!" Then a flash of light, the man disappeared from the guild's sight and vanished into the town down at floor 1.

Ren moved forward and looked at the mysterious savior. "My name is Ren and this is my guild Wyvern Inferno."

"I know who you are, tactician of the front lines." The young man said. "Along with the rest of you. The Berserker Lotus, Alice. The Fragile Lily, Mai. The Unrelenting Psychopath, Helios. And The Rip-off Merchant Dagger."

"What did you call me?!" Mai growled.

"Do people really call me a beserker?" Alice wondered.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Helios smirked.

"Ripoff might be overstating it a bit. But anyway, you wanna see my wares?" Dagger offered.

"He didn't mention me." Riku sobbed.

"Wyvern Inferno is a well-known guild, just like their leader, the head tactitian of the front lines." the mystery man continued.

"Heh, well I guess that makes introductions easier. But who are you?"

The young man brought his hand forward to Ren, as if asking for a handshake. "My name is Yaksha. I am from the clan Amaterasu. It is a pleasure to meet you in person."

Ren smiled as he shook the now known person's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Wait." Dagger said suddenly. "Did you say Amaterasu? As in; 'The Golden Hunters' Amaterasu!? The clan that focuses on gathering rare equipment!?"

Yaksha nodded his head. "The very same."

Dagger grabbed both a Yaksha's arms and bowed her head low before looking at him with teary eyes. "...You... *hic* you're my heroes!"

Yaksha looked a bit weirded out but he was soon saved as Helios dragged his girlfriend off of him. "Dagger, you know how I get when you get clingy to other guys..."

"Sorry..."

Yaksha turned again to Ren. "Anyway I was wondering, would you honor me with a match Ren?"

"Excuse me?"

"I wish to fight you in a fight Ren." Yaksha said once again. "I have heard of your strength and I wish to pit myself against you. Will you fight me?"

Ren considered Yaksha's challenge for a moment before giving a nod of his head. "Alright i'll fight you. But can we do it later? I think we need some rest from today's excitement."

"Of course." Yaksha said as he opened his screen and send a message to Ren. Ren saw a screen open in front of his face.

'Accept Yaksha's Friend Request?' The screen asked. Ren pressed the yes button and the screen vanished.

"Until we meet again Ren." With that being said, Yaksha suddenly jumped in the air and vanished from their sight.

"He certainly is a character of his own." Alice said as she walked next to Ren.

Ren nodded his head in agreement but smiled. "Even so, the guy looks tough, I can't wait to fight him."

**A/N: Phew. Writing two chapters in one week definitely wasn't easy but it was well worth it. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Till next week readers. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hello readers. I hope you all enjoyed Yaksha's character so far. It is now time for the battle between Ren and our new masked friend. I hope you all enjoy it. Also, I will unfortunately not be able to post a chapter next week. Finals for the first semester are going to be next week, so I will be busy studying. I apologize to all my dedicated fans that look forward to a new chapter of this story each week.**

A few days had passed since Ren and his guild had met the mysterious player known as Yaksha. Anticipation had been building up inside of Ren, waiting for the upcoming duel. The tactician wondered when the masked man would send him a message for the time of their match. Finally that morning, Ren had gotten his answer.

"So he finally gave you a time and place?" Alice said as she walked with her boyfriend to the place Yaksha told Ren about.

"Yeah. I already told the others. They wanted to come watch." Ren explained.

"Just be sure to kick his ass for me." the black haired girl growled, letting her dislike for Yaksha be clearly shown. The two of them stepped onto the teleport gate and called out their destination.

"Teleport! Norende!" A blinding light enveloped the pair and they vanished from the gate. When they reappeared, they found themselves at their destination, the town of Norende on floor 52. The basic layout of the town wasn't all that different from other floors. Multiple buldings poppulated the town, and a gate was present at the north, south, east, and west ends. What was different was the decoration. Plantlife filled the area. Vines were streaming from lightpost to lightpost. If you took away all the buildings, it would feel almost exactly like being in a jungle. One thing in the town was out of the ordinary though: the huge number of players present.

"There he is! It's Ren!" a player screamed. Several other players turned their heads towards Ren and rushed his way.

"W-What the hell?! What's going on?" the surprised tactician wondered.

"What are your comments on your upcoming duel with Yaksha?" one player in the crowd asked. Others began to call out various questions of their own, all about the duel. As Ren and Alice stood there wondering how all these players had found out about the match, a voice yelled out and gave them their answer.

"Alright people, move aside. Let the guy come through." The swarm of players split apart as Dagger walked up towards her guild mates. "Ren will not be taking questions at the moment. He needs time to focus on his match." the merchant explained as she grabbed Ren's arm and pulled him through the opening of the crowd with Alice following right behind.

"You told all of these players about the duel?!" Ren said, annoyed with the merchant's actions.

"And I made a FORTUNE selling tickets! Don't worry I'll split the profits ninety percent me and ten percent you." Dagger smiled.

"Why am I only getting ten percent... never mind. Stupid question."

The group walked through the town and arrived at the coliseum. Hundreds of players were already present. All of the colloseuems in Aincrad had a shape similar to that of the famous Roman colloseum. However, each one had unique features on them that had to do with the floor each one was on. Floor 52 was filled with jungles and forests. As a result, the exterior of the colloseum was covered in ivy and plantlife. The battlefield inside the arena was also surrounded by thorny vines, which would deal damage to a player dueling that touched them. That was a rare occurence though.

Dagger led Ren into the waiting room, while Alice headed to the stands. After a few minutes, the tactician walked out onto the battlefield. The sudden boom of cheers almost deafened him. On the opposite side, stood the player with the hawk-like mask. It was hard to tell what he was thinking with the top half of his face covered.

"I've been looking forward to this duel for a while, tactician of the front lines." Yaksha calmly said to his opponent.

"Yeah. I'm a little excited myself." Ren smirked. "I may owe you for saving Mai, but don't think I plan on holding back."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. My wish is to fight you at your best."

Yaksha maneuvered through his menu and a window popped up in front of Ren reading 'Accept Duel Request From Yaksha?'. Ren pressed the 'Yes' tab and a timer began to count down. The cheers increased in volume. Ren could see Alice, Helios, and the rest of his guild cheering from the stands, except for Dagger who was busy collecting last minute bets. The timer was quickly approaching zero as the two players drew their blades.

5...4...3...2...1... START!

As the sound that signaled the start of the match echoed, Ren and Yaksha sped at each other with their weapons veiled in light. The two blades clashed with their owners standing in the center of the arena, deadlocked in a test of strength. The glow on their swords slowly vanished and both sides jumped back, putting some distance between them. They soon charged at each other once more, this time with the swords streaking across one another. Sparks emerged as the two players passed by each other. The crowd watched in awe as the two continued to strike at each other with blinding speed. Even the streams of colorful light emanating from their blades was hard to follow.

The HP of the two fighters slowly decreased with each clash. Both were getting close to the yellow zone. The duel would be decided with the next few moves. The series of lightning fast clashes stopped as both players skidded to a halt on opposite sides of the arena.

"You're pretty good." Ren said as he took the moment to catch his breath.

"The same goes for you. I have heard of your legendary speed. It seems that those rumors were true." Yaksha replied, just as exhausted as his opponent.

The time to decide the duel had come. The two swordsmen kicked the ground and took one last sprint towards each other. Ren attacked his masked opponent with a horizontal slash. Yaksha quickly ducked under it. His feet gave a violet glow as he spun around and delivered a kick to Ren's chest, sending him up a few feet. He continued the series of swift kicks midair while spinning. Ren recognized the technique as the martial arts skill Tornado Kick. Alice had shown him the move before when she had learned it. Ren's HP was millimeters from going yellow as the final kick came. Ren quickly moved his arms into a cross position and absorbed the final blow of the skill. His HP had barely been spared from the yellow zone. Ren performed a midair backflip as he landed. Yaksha would be frozen for a couple seconds from the side effect of activating a skill. The tactician quickly used this opportunity to charge at the exposed player and delivered a final attack to Yaksha. The masked player fell back and his HP went from green to yellow. The winner icon appeared and the crowd roared in applause for the victor. Ren reached out his hand towards his defeated opponent, who graciously accepted it.

"That was a good duel. I have deemed you worthy, great swordsman." Yaksha said.

"Worthy? Worthy of what?" Ren asked in a confused manner.

"Worthy of being called my rival." the masked man explained. "I have been searching for a player on whom I can test my skills against. You are the one person I have found that is skilled enough to do so."

"Um... thanks I guess." Ren replied.

"I will come to challenge you again after I have honed my skills further. When that time comes, I hope we may do battle once more."

"Just give me a time and place." Ren smirked.

"Until we meet again." Yaksha said. As he began to walk away he turned his head and said one last thing to his new rival. "Next time, let's try to make our duel a bit more private."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Dagger can be a little... enthusiastic when it comes to money." Ren replied.

After the duel, Ren met up with his guild and they discussed the match as they headed home.

"You were amazing Ren!" Alice exclaimed. "It was great how you kicked his butt after he ripped off my Tornado Kick skill."

"It's just a martial arts skill. That skill isn't exactly rare." Helios pointed out. "Maybe you're just mad that the two of you use similar skills."

"I am not!" Alice glared. "I could have pulled off that skill way better than he did."

"Yeah whatever." Helios replied.

"We should do this kinda thing more often." Dagger suggested. "I made a ton of col with this duel."

"Is money all you think about?" Ren sighed.

"No it isn't. I think about Helios... on occasion." the merchant responded.

"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part." her boyfriend said.

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this week's chapter. Again, there will not be an update next week. Look forward to the next chapter, coming in two weeks time. Until then everyone.**


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